CONVERSATION ON THE AK

[williamlayton]

Just curious conversational questions on the AK round. It comes up as a sidebar to the AR thread on this subject.
Trying not to hijack!
What is the cost of AK milsurp?
Is it dirty/corrosive?
Having never shot one, give me a comparison of recoil.
This is from a discussion on the RRA AK lower and AR upper.
It seems to me that this is a better hitting round for deer hunting.
I know nothing.
Blessings

[Lloyd Smale]

dont know what there getting for wolf ammo anymore. I bought 10 cases back when it was a 150 bucks a case and still have half left. I shoot it in an ar15 in 762x39. Its actually not bad ammo. It isnt as accurate as my handloads using vmax hornadys but its every bit as accurate as my handloades using ball bullets. the wolf ammo is dirty. It will gum up an ar after a while but thats the beauty of an ak. They will run dripping in gunk. Wolf primers arent corrosive. I dont know about the rest. Recoil is more the a 223 obviously. Out of my ar its substaintialy lighter then say a 3030 winchester though and in a heavier ak its not much more then a 223 ar. Ive shot a handfull of does with it. Nothing real big most around a 100 lbs and it kills well out to a 150 yards. I cant say much about longer because thats the longest kill ive made with one. the bullets Ive used to kill deer are the vmax and the wolf hp. Both bullets that some claim arent good deer bullets but ive yet to have a deer take more then two leaps before piling up. comparing it to a 223 at those ranges its a much better killer. Wound channels are  larger and i dont remember ever not getting an exit wound so tracking shot deer would be no doubt easier. Now keep in mind id never use either with ball bullets on deer. Ive got a pile of bulk 123 grain soft noses that im not sure if they are hornadys or ww that one of these days ill give a try. theyd probably be the best bet in a bullet. For a deer hunting ar id take one hands down over a 223. Its actually real close on the heals of a 6.8. Id guess that a fair number of african animals have fell to aks with wolf ammo.

[cjclemens]

On average, your run of the mill russian steel-cased 7.62x39 is about $5 a box.  Most of it is supposed to be non-corrosive, but it's surely not the cleanest burning ammo ever made.  After all, its $5 a box...Recoil is moderate - feels more like a .243 in my opinion.  It's a solid round - the ballistics compare with .30-30.  With a fairly accurate rifle, I dont see why it wouldnt work well on deer.  I'd use it if I wasnt living in one of the slug states.  I do know it knocks the hell outta coyotes, though.

[mcwoodduck]

William,
I think you have two seperate questions.
One is about the AK as a platform and the other is about the 7.62X39 round.
As a rifle the AK has more recoil than the AR.  The bullet is 2.5X as heavy  so recoil is going to be greater.
The AK as a rifle is accurate enough for most deer or pig hunting  in the 50 to 75 yard range.   The AK is a 100 yard rifle.
With that said the Soviet SVD sniper rifle is an AK action.  a tight machined rifle where the slop that makes the AK reliable makes it inaccurate is taken out. 
The Round is about Equal to the 30-30 with 125 grian bullets.  No one will argue with the effectivenes of the 30-30 on deer and pigs.  there are some hunting rounds loaded for the 7.62X39 in 125 grain to 150 grain soft point bullets.
In a rifle like the Cz 527 the 7.62X 39 cane be very accurate.
Two of the most accurate and efficient rounds, the 22PPC and the 6PPC came from the 7.62X39 round.

[PAHUnter04]

7.62X39 Tul Ammo 122 grain FMJ and Hollow Points can had for about $5.00 for a box of 20 steel cased cartridges. They shoot about 2200 FPS and in my American Made I.O. AK47, I can get 1.5 to 1.75 in groups at 100 yards with open sights, from the bench.
 
There are AR conversions going on, like you stated. But if you can find an AK47 that shoots why bother. The Achilles heal of the AK47 was that you could not mount a scope or rail mounted sight to the back receiver. They have side rails out, but they look like crap. There is a company producing a nice picitinny rail system for AK47's and should be out soon. I just modified my I.O. with all Dark Earth components, including the 30 round magazine, and when I add the new rail system, I will mount a tactical sight on the new setup. Maybe a Burris 332.
 
Regards PAH04

[Bugflipper]

 Wolf and Herters are made at the Tula plant. All 3 brands are about identical. They may have special case washes like polymer on some, partizan brass cases, or a heavier bullet in another brand. Personally I don't buy the three of them, they are lower velocity, less accurate, less consistent with average velocities and dirty, with my experience. There's not a big price difference between them and Barnaul ammo..
If you shop around online you can usually find Barnaul (bear) ammo cheaper shipped to your door than buying a case of the previously mentioned locally. They run at normal velocity, are pretty consistent if you chrono them, are reasonably accurate and don't foul the action with powder in what I have seen.I like the silver bear but there are two other lines brown bear is lower, golden bear is higher. They have the same components, just different case washes. Not match grade but you can get 1" groups or a hair under consistently in x39. I have hunted with it and no complaints. I use the silver bear in .223, 5.45x39, 7.62x39, .308 and 7.62x54.
For cheap match ammo the Serbian PRVI Partizan is pretty good. As a bonus you have reloadable cases for more match ammo.